Western Abenaki and English/Contrastive Grammar

Animacy

Nouns and verbs are tagged with animacy, and there are different verbs depending on whether the subject/object are animate or inanimate.

Noun Animacy

• Lobster
  • ^sȣgaiwios<n><nn>/lobster<n>
• Apple
  • ^aplesa<n><aa>/apple<n>
• Nuts
  • ^pagȣnisal<n><nn><pl>/nut<n><pl>

Verb Animacy

Verb animacy differs depending on the animacy of the subject.

• • put aside
    • beskaaka<vb><tv><aa><o_3sg_def_aa>
    • beskato<vb><tv><nn><o_3sg_def_nn>

Plural Agreement

Adjectives and verbs must agree with the relevant noun in plurality

First Person Possessive, First Person Subject

In Western Abenaki, the first person possessive marker is a prefixed n’. In English, this is simply the word "my." Similarly, a first person subject is marked on a verb with the same prefixed n’. In English, this is the word "I."

• • N’cape - my coffee
    • ^cape<n><nn><px1sg>/coffee<n><px1sg>$
    • the "my" will be extracted in the Structural Transfer lab
  • n’wlômawaldamen - I believe
    • ^n’wlômawaldamen<vb><tv><nn><s_sg1>/believe<vb>
    • The "I" will also be extracted